IUCN threat status:

Brief Summary

Description

Walnuts are a favorite food of Arizona Gray Squirrels, and when they find an abundance, the squirrels soon stain their faces, paws, and undersides a distinct brownish-orange from walnut juice. Other foods eaten may include fungi, acorns, juniper berries, pine seeds, and tree flowers and buds. This species is quiet and secretive and rarely seen. It is not very common and has a limited geographic distribution. Within its range, Arizona Gray Squirrels prefer broadleaf forests along rivers, which commonly occur in canyon bottoms.